ABSTRACT
This is primarily a legacy of the end of the Second World War, when the USA became East Asia's primary underwriter of security, a pattern that has persisted for more than six decades. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey recently explained: 'The US has more alliances in this region than anywhere else in the world', including those with Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Thailand and Australia. The US – China relationship is the central factor in any American calculations about its future presence or activities in East Asia. The alliance is the by-product of an American effort, begun in earnest following the 1951 San Francisco peace treaty, to build Japan into a bulwark against the expansion of communism, from both the Soviet Union and China. The US commitment to – and sustained presence in – South Korea is a legacy of the devastating Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953.
